Building & Zoning Committee

COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT MAYOR TRUSTEES Andrew Przybylo George D. Alpogianis John C. Jekot Danette O’Donovan Matyas ACTING Denise M. McCreery VILLAGE Craig Niedermaier MANAGER Dean Strzelecki Hadley Skeffington-Vos VILLAGE CLERK Marlene J. Victorine BUILDING AND ZONING COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES REMOTE PARTICIPATION January 21, 2021 Chairman Denise McCreery – Trustee Members Charles Ostman – Community Development Director Rich Wlodarski – Community Development Assistant Director Tom Kanelos – Chairman Planning and Zoning Hadley Skeffington–Vos – Deputy Village Manager Danielle Grcic – Village Attorney Rich Mangold – Resident I. Call To Order/Roll Call The Niles Building and Zoning Committee meeting was called to order at 8:18 AM. Present: 8 – Chairperson McCreery, Mangold, Thake, Kanelos, Ostman, Skeffington-Vos, Grcic, and Elizarraga. Absent: 2 – Mayor Andrew Przybylo, Rich Wlodarski II. Approval of Building & Zoning Committee minutes from the meeting on October 15, 2020 Ostman motioned to approve of meeting minutes for October 15, 2020. Skeffington-Vos seconded. AYES: 7 – Chairperson McCreery, Kanelos, Mangold, Ostman, Thake, Skeffington-Vos, Grcic NAYS: 0 ABSTAIN: 0 Motion passed. WWW.VNILES.COM III. Old Business A. Proposed changes to fence ordinance a. Ostman explained there are a few options related to corner side yard fences. i. Allow 50% of corner-side yard. ii. Only allowing decorative in nature and no more than four (4) feet tall. iii. Excludes aluminum rod iron fences. iv. No fences shall be erected that encloses front doors b. Chairperson McCreery inquired if staff was familiar with two-side entrance residences, one would be considered a front entrance. c. Ostman stated yes. d. Chairperson McCreery inquired if the fence would be allowed to come to the front door. e. Ostman stated this does not affect normal interior lots and can enclose side yards but not front yards. f. Chairperson inquired if one of the side entrances would be considered a front door. g. Ostman stated no. h. Chairperson McCreery inquired as to chain-link fences being allowed. i. Ostman stated no, fence must be decorative. Kanelos motioned to approve proposed changes to the fence ordinance. Mangold seconded. AYES: 7 – Chairperson McCreery, Kanelos, Mangold, Ostman, Thake, Skeffington-Vos, Grcic NAYS: 0 ABSTAIN: 0 Motion passed. B. Further discussion on new members and staff voting (next steps) a. Chairperson McCreery stated this is a critical point to find new members and expanding the committee. She stated the meeting time might be difficult to some members, chairperson posted in Everything Niles and personal page and has not had any takers. Chairperson McCreery is open to reaching out to the EDNR committee. b. Ostman stated end-of-year and Holiday season has paused things. Ostman proposes to keep this on the agenda until May reappointment of committee members to hopefully get more business owners or other committee members to join. c. Chairperson McCreery asked for all to keep an ear out for new committee members. d. Skeffington-Vos asked if the committee is open to changing the meeting time. e. Chairperson McCreery stated yes, absolutely. f. Mangold stated the current schedule works for him, but is open to change. IV. New Business A. Discussion/Proposal of entrance signage locations and budget amounts a. Ostman stated it was discussed that if the upcoming budget should have a line item for signage for electronic message centers and other signage. Ostman went on to say that electronic message centers similar to Albion and Milwaukee cost $70-80 thousand dollars. Ostman inquired if the village should budget for one or two of these signs, location to be determined. Other signage includes kiosk signage on Milwaukee Ave. between Monroe and Harts to post events and increase traffic on Milwaukee business sidewalks. b. Chairperson McCreery stated that there are markers in the plan that don’t require digital signage. c. Ostman stated yes. d. Chairperson McCreery stated they approved a sign for the Police Department and it would have been an ideal time to redo sign on Milwaukee, and it was a missed opportunity to call to action for resident events. Chairperson McCreery stated we need to be more careful integrating opportunities. Chairperson inquired to the location of Milwaukee and Harlem. e. Mangold stated it would be nice for the sign to be for Niles residents and not for through traffic.  f. Kanelos inquired as to the purpose of a sign like that. g. Chairperson McCreery stated that to promote events, carnivals, concerts and other meetings. She went on to say issues with Chicago Billboard and the pandemic she questions if this is the time to budget for these signs. h. Ostman stated it would be important to put it in the budget. Ostman proposed an amount to $150,000 as placeholder for this line. i. Chairperson McCreery states it is important that we keep with our identity. j. Ostman stated surrounding Villages have electronic message centers working for them to remind residents of vehicle stickers, events and other information. k. Chairperson McCreery stated Dempster and Milwaukee would be a great location but the Village does not own property on that corner. l. Ostman proposed to ask for an easement on a contractual basis. Ostman stated he would like to work on this in the next two months. m. Chairman McCreery stated it would get harder to say no to Chicago Billboard free sign. She stated we should always budget for signage plan. n. Skeffington-Vos inquired if the signage plan was phased for implementation. o. Ostman stated he would look at records, he stated the implementation plan is not effective and right now would be a good time to implement one. p. Skeffington-Vos suggested a best practice street signage would be helpful to work with Public Works to place that on the budget every year. q. Ostman stated he would contact Village planner to begin working on this and discuss at the next meeting. r. Mangold passes the sign on Minor and River in Des Plaines and you learn about the community events. s. Skeffington-Vos stated it would be important to talk to Chicago Billboard to get community alerts off of their signs. t. Chairperson McCreery stated the Chicago Billboard signs does not work with our Village model. Although she appreciated the savings, it does not fit Village purpose. u. Ostman recommends placing a $150,000 placeholder, to fine-tune two meetings from now before the approval of the budget. v. Chairperson McCreery stated she would like to have it state ‘signage’ instead of ‘electronic messaging’ to include more kinds of signage. w. Kanelos inquired as to the price, especially to prioritize finance during this time. x. McCreery stated that price can be changed, but it’s important to prepare for the budget. Mangold motioned to $150,000 to be used for Niles signage, locations to be determined. Skeffington- Vos seconded. AYES: 6 – Chairperson McCreery, Ostman, Mangold, Thake, Skeffington-Vos, Grcic NAYS: 0 ABSTAIN: 1 – Kanelos – The committee is concerned about the budget, but understands the importance to move forward improving the appearance of the Village as a whole. Motion passed. B. Proposal of Residential Design Guideline proposed by Lakota – recommendation FY22 a. Ostman stated this is something that has been discussed previously in 2017. He stated Camiros performed a Zoning Code rewrite and also did a rough draft of the Design Guidelines. Ostman stated there have instances where residences lack design criteria. For example, having a roofline that breaks the front masonry. Ostman stated he does not think there is a need for a committee, but there is need for design elements such as types of materials allowed. Ostman went on to say the Village received a proposal from the Lakota group to produce Residential Design Guidelines for $30,000. b. Kanelos stated he is all for guiding criteria, but does not believe there is a need to spend money to hire an outside firm to produce the guidelines. c. Ostman stated that graphic design and language for code is included. d. Kanelos stated he’s in support of mandatory design guidelines, but does not believe it’s complicated enough to spend money on. e. Skeffington-Vos inquired as to an Appearance Committee  f. Chairperson McCreery stated Appearance Committees require a lot of money. g. Kanelos stated he believes there is no need for an Appearance Committee and this should be an administrative issue. h. Ostman stated there are commercial guidelines in the code, but there is a need for residential guidelines. He went on to say that other municipalities control the appearance of residential and commercial areas. i. Kanelos inquired if the Lakota proposal includes commercial guidelines. j. Ostman stated no. k. Kanelos prefers the Lakota group to produce commercial guidelines, rather than residential. l. Ostman stated he is for changing the project to commercial. m. Chairman McCreery stated the committee should not dismiss the residential aspect. She stated that this needs to be looked at by a professional for both residential and commercial areas. n. Mangold stated Ostman already has a handle on what is acceptable as far as appearance. o. Ostman stated he does not have the time for this project, with everything else going on in his department. p. Skeffington-Vos asked if this is common in other municipalities. q. Ostman stated yes, they produce guidelines administratively and do not have a commission. r. Chairman McCreery stated she is appreciative of all comments, she said she is concerned for the time constraints that this project could cause s. Kanelos stated he does not understand what the drawings included in the guidelines are. t. Ostman recommends looking at guidelines from other towns to view what they incorporate. He stated he will put together a package for the meeting next month. u. Chairperson McCreery stated the Village has to be prepared for commercial areas. She stated she does not want this to be difficult for the businesses, especially now. Kanelos motioned to table this item under new business for the next meeting on February 18, 2021. Mangold seconded. AYES: 7 – Chairperson McCreery, Kanelos, Mangold, Ostman, Thake, Skeffington-Vos, Grcic NAYS: 0 ABSTAIN: 0 Motion passed. V. Open Discussion and Public Comments a. No public comments. b. Next meeting February 18, 2021 VI. Adjournment Mangold motioned to adjourn until February 18, 2021. Kanelos seconded. AYES: 7 – Chairperson McCreery, Kanelos, Mangold, Ostman, Thake, Skeffington- Vos, Grcic NAYS: 0 ABSTAIN: 0 Motion passed. Meeting adjourned at 9:21 a.m.